Marney Stapley – “Additive Manufacturing attracts some of the brightest minds in tech and innovation”

If you are in the Additive Manufacturing industry, you probably already know Marney as the Business Manager for Fabbaloo. Fabbaloo is one of the oldest 3D Printing blog. We, at Women in 3D Printing, are thrilled to count them as one of our early partners. It is with great pleasure that we are sharing Marney’s story here.

Marney, could you let us know about your background and what brought you into 3D Printing in the first place?

I have been working in a technology company for nearly 30 years and when I first heard about 3D Printing 5 years ago, I was very intrigued. I was attending a TED event in our local city and this man was giving a talk on 3D Printing. I was very interested in this new technology and tried to understand what it was all about. The man giving the talk was Kerry Stevenson, founder of Fabbaloo.

What was your very first experience with 3D Printing?

I guess it was at our local Makerspace, which is Canada’s largest, North Forge Fabrication Lab. As the Member Council Chair, I wanted to take the 3D Printing training so I could intelligently talk to prospective members about it’s capabilities. As a result of my training, I have printed a few models on my own and of course also trouble shooted a few common issues along the way. This basic knowledge has helped me feel more comfortable when talking to 3D Printing Vendors for Fabbaloo.

You are very active in helping spreading innovation, should it be through your full-time position at MTS, your part-time role at Fabbaloo, or your volunteering work for the North Forge Fabrication Lab and TEDx Winnipeg. What motivates you to be so active in this industry?

I think it is because now I am entrenched in the Communities and have made many friends and connections that it would be hard to leave. It is very rewarding too. I feel like I am at the stage in my life where I prefer to help people and I am fortunate to often be in the position where I can help through creating opportunities for people.

As a woman entrepreneur, what was/ is your biggest challenge?

I could never (and still haven’t) quit my day job that pays my bills. I support a family of 4 so need the income. That is my biggest challenge to-date.

Do you have any (fun or not) story about your experience to share with us?

In May, 2014, his Royal Highness, Prince Charles visited our Maker space! I showed him how to reverse engineer an object into a CAD file to 3D Print using a Creaform 3D Scanner. He was suitable impressed and I was so nervous my ears plugged!

Anything exciting coming up you’d like us to know about?

Fabbaloo is developing a couple new opportunities around 3D Scanners and Events that I am excited about so check back to our website often!

What was the most impressive or impactful use of 3D printing you’ve seen so far?

Honestly it has been the synergies that I have noticed lately between my Digital Strategy job and the 3D Printing Industry. As the Digital Strategy Manager for MTS, my main responsibly is developing strategies to transition manual processes into digital ones that have a greater impact. And I was lucky to talk with many business leaders in Amsterdam in June 2016 about digital fabrication, which also requires moving manual processes such as standard metal manufacturing to digital manufacturing. Some industries have already revolutionized their production process, making products and parts using new digital methods. And the outcomes are proving successful for these future-thinking businesses who can reinvent their processes.
Imagine the possibilities for the industries such as healthcare, automotive and aerospace—where the immediate need for such products is so apparent. By creating parts that are lighter, stronger, customized and cheaper to produce, they can move even faster to enhance technology and the applications for use.

What makes the 3D Printing industry particularly interesting for you?

The professional applications interest me greatly. I see how Industries can uncover huge benefits from a new way of manufacturing, which can help build highly technical and complex components that are very strong while still lightweight. Components can also be customized relatively easily and small batches of parts can be manufactured at lower costs—something that usually requires high batch volumes in traditional manufacturing.

This is why many smart 3D print companies have switched focus to industrial commercial and professional applications, where the market is set for massive expansion. And this is why Additive Manufacturing attracts some of the brightest minds in tech and innovation.

What do you think of the 3D Printing industry today? And how would you like to see it evolve?

The technology today is improving through multi colours, multi materials and 3D Printers becoming faster it is moving more towards 3D Printing as a Manufacturing technology rather than purely prototyping. We saw this recently with the Stratysys J750. This will change Manufacturing work flows tremendously.

In your opinion, how could we encourage more women to become involved with 3D Printing?

Mentors and role models. I have a few role models in 3D Printing and in various other technology industries.

If you are interested in learning more about Marney and Fabbaloo, I invite you to check Fabbaloo’s website here.

And don’t forget to join the Women in 3D Printing group on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also show your support by donating – Your support will help maintaining the activities of this blog and building more events for the community.